Gone
by LadybugGirl7068
Summary: They hadn't expected it, the night Raphael went missing. They hadn't expected how long he would be gone. And they certainly hadn't expected the state in which they would get him back.
1. In the Beginning

Okay. It's not finished. It's not absolutely perfect. But! It is the longest story I have written so far. On a spur of the moment deal, I've decided to show that hey! I do stuff even when it seems like I'm not doing stuff! 2nd college semester just started up and I'm not sure when I'll have time to post this or write more, so I figured hey, I've kept people waiting long enough.

Okay so there IS AN OC IN THIS STORY. HES THE BAD GUY. I HOPE THAT'S ALRIGHT. I feel like I needed to say that first off, as a kind of warning or something.

Also. I am in the market for a beta. Never done anything related to a beta-reader before. I don't know how it works. But a pair of fresh eyes would be great, and I want this story to be actually good for y'all.

(I'm not sure about the title either but what are ya gonny do aboot it)

Anyway.

...

Nov. 8th

The night was crisp and clear on the streets of New York City. Cars drove around each other, swerving and honking as they usually did. The pigeons cooed from their spots above the buildings, some watching as others flew down to peck at the measly crumbs on the sidewalks, most already nestling in for the night.

The sudden screech and yowl of a cat frightened the birds hiding out on some low windowsills, sending them fluttering in all directions. The terrified cat paid them no attention as it scampered out of a steamy alleyway.

The racket of trash barrels could be heard through the smog of the alley, and the pounding sounds of flesh on flesh were only followed by more echoes of metal on metal. A newspaper drifted through the smokey atmosphere towards the ruckus lazily, but was stopped in its tracks by a heavy boot, pinned to the pavement. The boot's owner held something shiny in an outstretched, shaking hand.

The shot rang through the alley seconds before the roar of pain did. The gun clattered uselessly to the steaming pavement as it's previous owner slid down against the wall, passed out from a nasty head wound.

Raph hissed in pain and grit his teeth, refraining from stealing a glance at the burning hole in his left thigh. The pain made him lean his weight on the rough brick of the alley wall. He had to make sure the man was okay first, then he could assess his own damage.

"Hey, you." Raph gestured to the only other remaining conscious man, the one he had been saving from the mugging in the first place. His damsel in distress was currently staring at the person slumped against the wall, the one Raphael had just knocked out. The one who had shot him.

The man, blue eyes wide in astonishment or fear, locked his attention on Raph. His black hair was messed from the earlier scuffle, as was his suit and red tie. His right shoe, which he had attempted to use as a weapon earlier, was off in a corner somewhere. His glasses had somehow stayed on his face for the fight, though he didn't seem to be in a terrible rush to straighten them. Overall, Raph would have described him as disheveled.

Raph felt uneasy in the man's gaze. He was staring at a giant turtle, but the usual response was to run away. The stare was starting to give Raph the creeps. Something about him seemed off, like he was a lot bigger than he let on. Raph blamed the uneasy feeling on his gunshot wound.

"Me?"

"Yeah. You. You okay?"

The man nodded his head slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine." His eyes traveled to the blood running down his savior's leg. "You're bleeding."

Raph rolled his eyes behind his mask, but resisted the urge to scoff. "Tends to happen when you're shot. Listen, uh..." He prompted the man for his name.

"Oh, Matthew. Dillard." He added his last name almost like a second thought.

"Right. Listen, Matt. You get home. I gotta go clean this up. Kapiche?"

Matthew nodded and started to walk past the giant talking turtle when he stopped as if hit by an invisible wall. He bit his lip and spun around, fiddling with his hands. He seemed to have forgotten his other shoe entirely.

"I know a place. It's out of the way, no one else knows where it is," Matthew seemed to plead. "It's real close to around here." There was a kind of desperation in his voice.

Raph turned behind him to where the small man was standing. "Sure you do. I gotta go get this cleaned up. Have a nice night." He hated repeating himself.

"No, wait," His steps were large and deliberate as he suddenly grasped Raph's wrist, pulling him back. "It's in the sewers, and I know how to treat bullet wounds. I used to be a doctor's assistant."

Raph frowned at the hand on his wrist, and Matthew let go hastily. Raph couldn't believe it, but he actually considered the offer for a second. If it was in the sewers, it was on the way, and this way Donnie wouldn't have to worry about cleaning him up. Plus, it meant getting back to the lair later, delaying another Leo lecture. Not that they'd been overly into it lately... but Raph didn't want that to change.

"Please," Matthew was saying. "You helped me, let me help you. Return the favor, and all that. Besides, you can barely walk with that injury, and I can fix it for you."

Raph leaned his hand on the alley wall for balance. The guy had a point. The already-intense burning in his leg was beginning to throb all up and down his side. It would be one less thing for Don to worry about. Maybe the public was finally giving back. And if it turned out to be a trap, he could always beat the guy up. Still, there was something... off about the whole thing. He wanted to trust his gut.

Matthew seemed to sense Raph's hesitation. He took another step forward, and something in his voice changed. "I promise your leg will be fine."

Maybe it was the way the guy said it. Or how serious he suddenly seemed. Matthew appeared to grow a bit as he stood up straight, a glint in his eye that Raph felt something... safe.

The next words out of his mouth did not feel like his own. "Okay. Lead the way."

The place Matt had been talking about was closer than Raph thought it would be. Of course, they were still about a mile or two from his home, but that still wasn't too far of a distance when one ran around the city on a regular basis.

Raph wondered in the back of his mind of how often this Matt person came down to the sewers. He didn't seem all that bothered by the smell, rats, bugs... Even with just one shoe on. The thought fogged in his mind as they rounded a short corner.

He recognized this place, he and his brothers used to play here when they were kids. There was a manhole up ahead, but as they grew older, they'd found closer ways to leave the sewers. This way was quieter, but timing always won out when choosing an exit.

His foot scuffed the slick floor and he stumbled a bit.

Raph hadn't been able to walk his way out of the alley, so Matthew had helped him limp around, becoming a small crutch for Raph to lean on. Frankly, Raph was surprised the man was holding him up as much as he was. Exhaustion had hit Raphael himself before they even made it to the manhole cover.

In addition to his exhaustion, the blood loss seemed to be getting to him. He could have sworn he was seeing shadows moving in the corners of his vision, but when he turned to them, there was nothing. He stumbled a few more times than he would have liked.

They walked through the tunnels for fifteen minutes before Matt announced they only had about twenty more steps to go. Raph glanced around. It was just the sewers. There wasn't any door anywhere that led to some place. He grew up here, he would know. He was just about to voice his concerns when he felt a pinprick on his arm. He pulled away from the sharp pain, confused and suddenly off-balance.

Raph took a few steps backward before he had to lean on the grimy wall next to him.

His world spun, and he was out before he even hit the ground.


	2. Won't Back Down

Let me know if there's anything I need to fix, or explain. It took a while for me to figure out this dude's intentions, but I think I got it now. I picked 'Gone' last night just to have a title, but I think it's grown on me.

I'm still not sure if I'm posting these up too early, or if there's still some stuff I need to figure out for it. I can always go back and re-upload chapters if I find that I've left anything out.

Oh well.

* * *

Raph woke up in darkness. At least, he thought it was darkness. Or maybe his eyes just weren't open. He tried to move his hand to rub his face, but it wouldn't move and there was a sharp pain in his wrist when he tried pulling his arms down.

Wait. Down?

The realization that he was hanging from his wrists chained against a wall slammed him back into reality none too gently. His eyes opened immediately, and his panic only increased when he still saw blackness.

He found his legs clumsily, moving them back underneath himself to stand with all the grace of a newborn deer. The pressure from his arms was let up, which was an improvement. They were already sore from the pressure. Thankfully, there was just enough length on the chains to let him stand nearly flat on the ground. Any shorter, and he'd be dangling only enough to brush his toes against the cold floor. His left leg gave out again. It was a wonder he could feel anything at all right now; his senses felt dulled.

He tried to say something, to cry out perhaps, but there was something tied around his head, keeping his mouth from letting him speak properly. There was a cotton texture on his tongue that made his head jerk backwards on instinct. He winced when the back of his head was only met by the stone wall his arms were chained to. The stone was rough enough to leave a mark, even with grime covering it.

Raph winced. The face movement made him feel the fabric around his eyes. Blindfolded? This situation just kept getting better.

 _Okay Raph. What do you know?_

Raph moved his wrists as much as he could without causing too much pain. They were tender from hanging there for... How long?

Hours, maybe. Days? Unlikely.

How did he get here? There was...

He left the lair, that was a clear enough memory. The argument he'd had with Leo was just jumbled sounds in his mind, but it was enough to remember.

Okay, so lair. Left the lair. Went to go...

Up top. Sliding the manhole aside, peeking out to an empty alley.

Climbing up... A yell... Some kind of fight...

There was a gun- a bullet. In his-

Raph focused his mind on his thigh. It was wrapped up; it had been doctored. The bullet was out, as far as he could feel.

Okay, getting somewhere. Shot, then what?

Raph's mind was too fuzzy to remember past the bullet wound. How he had ended up in... this place, he had no idea.

There was a steady dripping sound coming from his right. A bucket maybe? That meant there were pipes. Working pipes, more or less. The lack of sound coming from anywhere else had him worried.

If this was a soundproof room that just so happened to have chains already on the wall that were the perfect size for a wrist, someone had to have planned this.

Shredder? Not likely. Shred-head wouldn't have had the decency to wrap up the gaping bullet wound.

Bishop maybe? Also unlikely. The crazy scientist was, well, crazy, but he was a clean guy. A room like this would disgust him.

That left Stockman and Hun.

They were a couple of show-ponies, no way they would have blindfolded him. Hun would want to be the first thing Raph saw when he woke up. Stockman was a scientist like Bishop, but with lesser standards. He'd want Raph on a table to work ASAP.

Well. This was strange. If it wasn't them, who could have-

A rough scraping noise coming from his left made Raph perk up. Despite not being able to see, he still turned his head toward the sound. He could make out a very slight amount of light through the blindfold. There was a faint sound of running water.

A muttered curse and... two, three footsteps over to the left from the supposed door, a small chain pulled, and a sudden but muted yellow light directly in front of Raph made an appearance.

The stone door scraped across the floor again, and from the lack of outside noise, Raph deduced it was closed, as well as generally soundproof.

So. Not good.

Raph pulled on his chains a bit more, hoping they would give at least some. No such luck.

The person cleared his throat, giving Raph enough to tell whoever it was that had him was a male.

That narrows it down to... not Karai. Great. Making some _real_ progress here.

"I'm sorry it's not more comfortable for you." The man's voice broke through the silence. Raph recognized it immediately as... what was his name? Michael? Mark? No... Matthew! Matt! The alley guy!

Raph tried to speak his thoughts, which just didn't work out. Right after, he cursed. It was met with the same muffled resistance.

The man chuckled at his frustration. "I know you're probably confused at the moment, but trust me. I'm trying to help you. Although I suppose the carfentanil and haloperidol cocktail I mixed up just for you might still be in your system."

What? Help? With what? What did he use?

"You see," The man scraped something along the floor, probably a chair. "I've never had a pet of my own. Not for long, anyway. They always died too quickly. When my parents found out, they kept me a secret from everyone they knew. But this time? Now? I have you all to myself." He shifted forward in his chair, and Raph could imagine the craziness in his eyes.

"You're all mine. I don't have to share you, not this time," He repeated. "Not this time."

Raph wanted to laugh. This guy was a bozo if he thought he could keep Raph locked away like this.

The man stood and took the few steps forward to take off Raph's blindfold.

He closed his eyes against the new light. When they finally adjusted, Raph could make out the rest of the room. It was maybe half the size of his room; a quarter of the dojo space. Tiny.

The rough walls around him were covered in grime and mold. The flimsy attempt at lighting the place was only enough for the center of the room, and the corners remained darker than the rest.

A single bulb hung in the middle of the room from a wire. It made a constant humming sound as if the power to keep it on was too much to contain.

There was a thin but long, plastic folding table in the middle of the room, as well as a single metal folding chair that currently held Matthew's person.

What caught Raph's eye were the tools on the table. He recognized each object. A small knife, a butcher knife, brass knuckles, a taser, a cattle-prod, and a small whip. A few lengths of chain were piled on the floor around a table leg. The bucket he'd heard was in the corner, next to a flat shovel. A wide step-stool was off to his right in the other corner. A box sat on the edge of the table closest to him, most likely containing his stuff.

Raph could think of about a million ways this could go bad.

"I've never gotten much respect. But with you by my side, loyal to only me... they'll see. They'll all see.

"Don't be scared, no." Matt was in his face now, close enough that Raph could smell his breath. He turned away as much as he could.

Matt's face darkened. "Look at me."

Raph wasn't one for orders, especially from crazy people who probably wanted to hurt him. He bared his teeth but kept his head turned away.

"I said look at me!" Matt swung at Raph's face and hit him just below his left eye. His head snapped to the right and he shook it slightly to clear the shock.

Raph grunted in pain while Matthew held his fist.

"See what you made me do? See what happens? All your fault, all their fault..."

Raph shook his head again and chewed on the gag a bit. It tasted dirty and somewhat salty.

The man was back, this time with the blindfold. He'd kicked the step stool over to reach Raph's face at a higher angle.

Matt leaned in to wrap the cloth back around Raph's eyes, but Raph had other plans.

He kicked off the ground with his feet and wrapped the chains above him tightly around his wrist with the extra length. He felt the chains tighten together as they held his entire weight. The action he took was lightning quick. Matt received a hard and solid kick to the face.

Raph had to smile as he watched his captor flail and squawk as he fell back into the table, sending it and himself backwards several more feet. His eyes were wide as he stared in shock, never letting go of his bleeding nose.

Raph's smile disappeared when Matthew's face darkened. His next words sounded nasally.

"That wasn't nice. I can see now I'm going to have to put certain precautions into place. You _will_ respect me, pet." He turned to the table directly behind him and grabbed the cattle prod with his free hand. Raph's eyes widened for a split second before they were back to his original glare.

Matt let go of his nose and glanced in disgust at the blood on his hand before letting his glare focus back on Raph.

Matt pushed back his hair with the bloody hand and thrust the prod into Raph's plastron, ignoring the pained noises making their way through the gag.

Raph sagged when the electricity finally stopped flowing through his body. He barely noticed when the cloth was back on his eyes. Everything went dark for a split second before he was staring into the back of the blindfold yet again. His arms strained in protest when the chains were hoisted higher one arm at a time, letting only his toes touch the ground now.

Raph caught his breath as the stone door closed, leaving him in complete darkness.


	3. That Green Gentleman

This chapter is much shorter than the last two, but that's alright. We'll be checking back in on Raph next chapter.

If it isn't obvious yet, this is any tmnt version except for Rise of the TMNT because they're babies and I could never do this to any of them.

That being said, I think their ages are more like

Leo- 18, almost 19

Raph-18

Don- 18

Mikey- 17, almost 18

* * *

"Hey, Leo! Call Raphie-boy, see if he wants in on this pizza order!"

Leo emerged from the dojo. "Why can't you do it? Pretty sure he's not in the mood to answer my calls, especially if I'm telling him to come home."

Mikey rolled his eyes from the table and gestured to the paper in front of him. "Can't you see I'm busy? I gotta get the wishes of my dear, dear brother's pizza fantasies written down! No time for anything else! Besides, he's kinda pissed at me, too."

Leo raised an eye-ridge as he approached. "Oh?"

Mikey chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... I might have touched his motorcycle..."

Leo leaned his back against the counter and crossed his arms. "Do tell, O brother of mine."

Mikey smiled sheepishly. "Okay, so I did more than touch it... but don't get mad! I already got chewed out by Raph and Don."

"And I'll do it again if I need to." Donnie chose that moment to walk into the room. "If neither of you think he'll answer your calls, I'll do it. No promises he'll pick up, but at least I haven't done anything to set him off lately."

Mikey stood up from the table and hugged Donnie, who returned it less enthusiastically with a pat on the shell.

"Thanks, Don. I don't know where we'd be without you."

"Probably living without central air." Donnie pulled away and patted his brother on the head. "I'll go make that call."

"Right!" Mikey spun on Leo. "Soooo, what shall I do to grant your pizza wishes?"

Leo smiled and shook his head. "Surprise me." He pushed off the counter and made his way back to the dojo to meditate.

Mikey smiled to himself. Don would want a veggie, Leo would want pepperoni or cheese, and Raph would want anything with meat on it. So stereotypical. He jotted down the list and jumped up to order the pizzas in the next room over.

All he had to do now was count on Don to get a hold of the red one.

Donnie walked back into the kitchen looking confused. He sighed when he saw the room was empty. Really, keeping track of his brothers was like herding cats.

Luckily for him, like cats, his brothers also had familiar hangouts.

Leo was definitely in the dojo, Mikey must be on pizza duty, and Raph... well.

That was the problem.

"Leo!"

His eldest brother's face poked out of the dojo. "What?"

Donnie held up his phone. "Raph isn't answering. Either he's being stubborn, he's lost his cell, or..."

Leo nodded. "Or he's in serious trouble."

Donnie smiled grimly. "Exactly."

Leo sighed softly. "I was worried about our fight last night, but he should be coming home soon... Can you track him? Y'know, with his cell?"

Don nodded. "Yep. I'll get right on it. Who knows where he's at?"

Leo poked back into the dojo as Don retreated back to his computer.

...

Don's computer beeped for the fourth time in ten minutes. He glared at the device and let out a frustrated growl. For some reason, the signal he was getting from Raph's phone was leading him to a different place every time he checked it.

The first time, it sent him to somewhere in Idaho, which made him check the GPS again to make sure.

Sure enough, he found out it was faulty when the signal sent him to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

He'd programmed their phones to have a very wide range in terms of a GPS signal, but there was no way Raph was able to make it from New York, to Idaho, to the _Atlantic Ocean_ of all places, in a few seconds.

Donnie leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head in frustration.

An idea struck him. If he could make the computer narrow down Raph's coordinates to just New York City, he would have a better chance at finding Raph.

Typing furiously, the map zeroed in on their home town.

Donnie made a mental note to fix this certain malfunction later.

He just hoped it wouldn't interfere with finding their brother.


	4. My Name is Human

Alright, another kind of short chapter. The OCs in here aren't all that important, they're just background characters. Paul has to come in later as a plot device.

Can you let me know how you're feeling about this so far? I would like to know if I should continue or not, or if it still needs to be worked on.

Whoop.

* * *

Raph gasped sharply in pain as he tried yet again to free his wrists. He could feel fresh blood running down his arms as a result of his pulling. He could hardly reach the floor now; his toes were sore from being stood on.

He had no idea how long he'd been in this place, but so far he'd heard two sounds that both seemed eerily similar to the subway over his head.

Which could only mean he was in the sewers.

Bright side, his brothers might know where to look.

Not-so-bright side, his brothers might not even think to look here.

Raph hoped it would turn out to be the former.

Ignoring the pain in his arms as best he could, Raph pulled down again.

...

Paul Johnson was not having a good day. When the captain requested an early meeting, rumors spread quickly throughout the station.

As a detective, he already knew the news. Disappearances had skyrocketed within the past month or so, and his partner was lead on the case.

He met up with Alex in the back of the meeting.

Alex sniggered to his left as the captain briefed the precinct on the case. "What's with the face?" He whispered.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Coffee's gone and I'm late. What else is there to be unhappy about?"

His partner nodded to the front of the room. "Well, this shit for one. Patrol car got called out by the pier last night, some kids found a body." He passed Paul a coffee from the chair next to him.

Paul accepted gratefully and took a sip before replying. "Match description?"

"You know it." Alexander shifted in his seat. "Coroner says she might as well have been in the sewers, had so many bugs on her."

Paul nodded. The captain finished her speech and dismissed the crowd. As they headed back to their desks, Paul's thoughts turned back to the case, per usual.

It wasn't everyday the entire precinct was invited on a case, but this was a big one. The news had started in on it a couple days ago, and if past patterns were correct, that meant the public was about to feel a whole less safe.

The targets were young kids, mostly girls from what they could gather. They all had a common trait: they seemed the type to runaway.

It was hard to find kids who didn't want to be found in the first place, and even harder to find kids who vanished from thin air.

They'd found old belongings on street corners, in alleyways, near the docks, you name it.

Paul had come to the conclusion it wasn't just one guy. At least two, maybe three people who were organized.

This last body was the third so far. They were similar in markings; all of them had signs of torture. Burns, cuts, bruises. Causes of death were different, one drowned, two sepsis.

Alex pointed out how bad sepsis was if not treated, and conditions didn't have to be horrible for it to set in. All it took was a little dirt and bacteria.

Captain Maria Stafford poked his head out of his office. "Hook, Johnson. Come here real quick."

Alex shot Paul a look that said 'oh, boy.'

They ducked in the door way and sat down at Stafford's desk.

"I'm worried about this case." The captain never was one for pleasantries. "There's some new evidence the coroner just called about."

"Oh yeah?" That made them lean forward.

Stafford nodded. "She says it's gotta be either the pier, abandoned building, or the sewers. Said something about particulates but she hasn't been wrong about this kind of stuff often, so I took her word for it."

Alex ran a hand through his brown hair. "You mean where the kids were before they died?"

Stafford nodded again. "I want you checking every abandoned building, every empty shipping crate on that pier."

Paul pursed his lips. "What about the sewers, Ma'am?"

"It's a maze, Johnson. I'll send a few men down there, but I'm not expecting them to find anything."

Paul nodded to himself.

This was going to be a long case, he could feel it in his bones.

Nov. 11th

Raph didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he was awoken by a scraping sound. He twisted in his chains and growled low in his throat, certain this would be his chance to escape. It hadn't been too long since he'd closed his eyes, probably. Maybe a day. Maybe two.

Footsteps walked over to the table and he heard the movement of a chair being pulled out. Some paper rustled and suddenly Raph's stomach growled at the smell of food before him.

The footsteps made their way over to where Raph was hanging and a hand reached up near his face. Naturally, Raph growled as menacingly as he could in his current state.

The hand slapped him. It was a couple seconds before his brain registered what had just happened, and that was enough time for his gag to be released from around his face to hang around his neck.

"That all you got?" Were the first words out of his mouth. The second ones were, "You coward."

Matt tsked from somewhere to his left. When did he move there? Focus, Raphael.

"You've barely seen what I have to offer you. Me coming in to check on you after one and a half days is a mercy and a gift from me to you. And, I brought lunch."

"I don't want anything from You." Raph snarled. He could hear the sigh come through his captor's lips.

"So be it. But you will, one of these days. When the hunger comes too much to bear, or when your wounds become too much for your pain tolerance, you will beg me-"

"You got the wrong turtle, pal. I don't beg. Especially not from scum like you."

"Have it your way. All you have to do is ask for something, and I can give it to you." The footsteps walked back around the table and scraped the chair a minuscule amount.

"Then let me go so I can pound your puny little face is some more." A smile made its way to Raph's lips at the memory of seeing Matthew's face covered in his own blood.

"Except for freedom. And after our first day together, I think you've shown me how untrustworthy you are."

Raph's eyes widened behind the blindfold. "You... kidnapped me, and now you're holding me hostage, for what? Not fame, you haven't taken my picture. You haven't asked me any questions. I'm beginning to wonder what the hell you get outta this deal."

"I get what I want."

"And what is that? A little torture victim all to yourself?"

"Yes."

The response chilled his bones. Raph hadn't expected that answer. It wasn't what he was used to. In fact, he felt like he was the one monologuing this time. It was a strange divergence from his usual path of getting captured and questioned about... anything, really.

Usually it was 'where did you get these weapons' or 'give me the location of your lair' or even, 'I'm planning on making a mutant army, blah blah blah...' This was definitely not the norm.

He shivered suddenly and uncontrollably. It wasn't nerves, it was cold. Too goddamn cold in here.

"Ya mind turning up the heat? I feel like it would be mutually beneficial."

"No heating down here."

Raph's mouth formed the beginnings of the word 'bullshit,' but there was no way he could say anything about Donnie's heating system, not when he didn't know how much this guy knew. It was entirely unpredictable how he would react.

At least then he might think of some unoriginal questions, he thought cynically.

But no. He wouldn't say a word about his brothers until they themselves showed up to rescue him, because there was a slim chance he'd be able to rescue himself this time. He'd tried the chains, mouthing off, getting close enough to hit the guy. None of it had worked so far, and the pessimist in him said he wasn't getting out on his own.

"You sure you don't want anything to eat?" The voice broke through his thoughts.

"From you?" He sneered. "Not in a million years."

"Have it your way." The paper crinkled and something else scraped off the table. It was metal, that much he could tell.

"Let's take care of that smart mouth, yeah?"

A blow to his chin forced his head up and back into the wall with a sickening 'crack.' He didn't have a moment for his brain to catch up with him as another, but longer piece of metal scraped across the table and he was hit in a downwards motion on his shoulder. Raph yelped in pain when he felt his already sore shoulder jarred worse than before. He was lucky to have moved his head out of the way in time.

Blood dribbled from his mouth down his chin and his feet scrambled to find some purchase on the ground before him.

"Is that-" He spit to the side. "Is that all you got? I been hit worse by teenagers."

Matthew exhaled sharply and went over to the corner for something else. It also scraped off the table, but this one sounded... familiar.

A sharp point began to dig its way into his stretched, sensitive, and exposed side, slowly. His breath hitched with every inch it was driven into his body.

It hit him then. It sounded like Leo's swords, or his sais. It made sense now.

The knife pushed deeper and Raph could feel his own blood escaping his body. He swallowed dryly and tried to form words in his head to project out of his mouth.

"Wh-what is that? S-some sort o-of sissy needle? I been tortured before... This ain't... that bad."

Matthew said nothing, and Raph wished he could see something more than blackness in front of his vision. The knife pushed deeper in a sudden and short movement, and it made Raph gasp in pain.

He heard Matt laugh softly through his nose, and Raph grit his teeth against the pain. He wouldn't give this asshole the satisfaction.

The pressure on the knife stopped once Raph could feel it start to get close to a rib. Matt's hand came away from the handle, and the small knife was lodged into Raph's body.

"Listen, I-I'm not a... a human pincushion... y'hear? Just... take out the damn knife... and I'll consider... killing you, ah, quickly." He swallowed down a wince and kept his expression as neutral as possible.

Matthew said nothing. He walked back to the table and grabbed his trash. It wasn't until he made it to the door that Raph knew what he was planning.

"H-hey! You can't, you can't leave me like this! You have to... You can't..." His feet scrambled again, but found nothing.

Matthew walked back over to Raph and reached up to his face. The fabric of his gag was pushed up from his neck to his lips, but he held them firmly closed.

Matt pushed the knife in his side deeper, and Raph let out a gasp and shook as the tip hit his bone and stayed there. Matt had enough time to put in the gag and draw his hands away before Raph could even think about biting him.

"I'll be back. Maybe next time you'll ask nicely."

Raphael finally pulled himself together enough to return with a muffled response. It took a couple beats for him to realize that Matthew had already left.

He shifted so that one foot was better able to find the ground to hold him up and blinked away tears that threatened to spill as the point of the blade lightly scraped bone. His readjusting had also torn the surrounding tissue open more, and blood continued to come with no sign of stopping.

The only thoughts going through Raph's head were 'stop, make it stop' and 'I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch' with one or two 'Leo, Donnie, Mike, where are you?' mixed in.

The gag soaked up the blood that had been dribbling from his mouth and now his tongue felt coated with it.

Raphael's stomach growled, and he still really had to pee.

...

I'm feeling the way that I'm feeling myself

Fuck everyone else

Gotta remember that nobody's better than anyone else, here

Do you need some time to think it over?

Look what they do to you

Look what they do to me

Must be joking if you think that either one is free, here

"My Name is Human" (Highly Suspect)


End file.
